“Belgroth. Well Bel, I guess we are going to be roommates in my head for the next couple of years. Where do we start?”

Alaster noticed the right eye of Belgroth twitching at the nickname, but the Demon didn’t do anything about it.

“Are you hungry?” Belgroth asked.

Alaster looked at the suited man suspiciously, “I could eat.”

Belgroth took off his clothes, thankfully leaving what appeared to be black underwear on. His body was rippled with scarred muscle. He neatly folded the clothes on the table.

“Please store these in your Ring. I could make after I recreate my body, but I would prefer not to.”

“Alright.” Alaster held his hands over them, causing them to vanish into the Ring.

“Be very careful with them. They have sentimental value. Please.”

“I will. So what do I need to do?”

Instead of answering, Belgroth held up his arm before swinging his other hand down, severing the offered arm at the elbow. The severed limb dropped onto the table with just a slight grunt of pain from the Demon.

“Eat up while its fresh.”

Alaster looked up at Belgroth, shocked.

“What? This method is more reliable than Mana Crystals. And I don’t even have one, just like you don’t. So eat.”

Alaster gulped, trying to keep his last meal down, “How much?”

Belgroth shrugged, “I don’t know. I guess until that System of yours acknowledges it?”

Earth flew from the surrounding walls and clamped tightly above the stump of Belgroth’s arm, cutting off the blood flow.

“And this is somehow supposed to grant a Bloodline?”

“Only if the person the body part comes from willfully allows it. Oh, and it should be raw. Cooking might lower the efficiency.”

Alaster poked the arm, half expecting it to move on its own, “How are you so calm about having me eat a part of you?”

“I’ve been trapped for countless years. After boiling in my rage for a few thousand, I began to meditate. It broadened my mind a lot. I still don’t like this, but I recognize it as necessary. So come on. I’d prefer to get this done quickly nonetheless.”

Alaster hesitantly grabbed the arm, raising it to his lips. Luckily, it seemed Demons didn’t have any hair on their body other than their heads, at least any part Alaster could see on Belgroth, and it wasn’t in a rush to ask.

Queasy, Alaster took a bite, finding that he had to bite as hard as he could, only to barely manage to bite through the skin. The rest was just as difficult and it took nearly ten minutes for Alaster to bite through, coating his face and his armored chest in blood. It took another hour for Alaster to chew enough to swallow.

Alaster held a bloody fist to his mouth, trying not to hurl. Several moments passed before he settled enough to keep going.

Belgroth watched in amusement. He certainly didn’t enjoy watching some Human eat a part of him, but the boy’s reactions were funny. However he also watched through the Mana how the boy’s body accepted the flesh. In just two hours after swallowing the first bite, he saw the Mana of the boy finally accept the his blood.

“Huh, I guess it only needed to digest a small part.” Belgroth muttered.

“What?” An angry Alaster said between chews. A notice from his System confirmed Belgroth’s words. The young man angrily spat out and pushed away the bloody arm.

“That’s just rude.”

“Shut up. I need to read the Notice.”

[Bloodline Obtained: Demonic Blood

Bloodline freely offered: +25% potency.

First to receive Bloodline: +25% potency.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Blood of Demon Royalty: +50% potency.]

“Double potency? Awesome. But you are Royalty?”

“Once. Very far removed from our People’s Rulers, but yes. Did that have an effect?”

“Yeah. Because it was freely offered, the Bloodline is twenty-five percent stronger. Then another twenty-five percent for being the first to receive a Demonic Bloodline. Plus another fifty percent for it being the Bloodline from Royalty.”

“Yippee for you. But what are the actual effects?”

[Demonic Blood

Magic Resistance: 50%

Fire Resistance: 100%

Health Regeneration: +100%

Mana Regeneration: +100%

Greater Understanding of Life and Death]

Alaster was certain he felt his heart stop for a moment. When it finally started again, he had to beat his chest to start breathing again.

“I’m guessing, from that reaction, that its good?”

Alaster only nodded.

“Well? What is it?”

Alaster told the Demon.

“That is impressive. I guess compared to you Humans, we really did seem unkillable.”

“Seem like it? Coupled with one of my Abilities and a few of my Bonuses, I can regenerate one hundred and twelve Health and one hundred twenty Mana per second, I only have thirteen hundred of both max!”

“That’s it? Wow, no wonder you Humans does so easily. It takes you a whole twelve seconds to recover all your health. It was standard for Argalon children to be able to return to perfect health from the brink of death in less than ten seconds. The only reason my arm isn’t regenerating is because this dimension is devoid of enough Mana.”

“See? Now you are just bragging.”

“No, I am keeping your head small. You act as if this is something amazing. But eventually, if you survive long enough, you will reach a point where that is standard.”

That caused Alaster to think. He knew that only Experts that specialized in doing so could match Alaster’s Regeneration. He didn’t know enough about people as strong as Richter or Aila. But Belgroth had fought and even killed Gods. They were likely weaker back then, but it didn’t seem by much.

Alaster took out some water from his Ring, washing his face, before taking a few gulps.

“What about the ‘Greater Understanding of Life and Death’ part?”

“I assume it means you will find it easier to comprehend the secrets of Life and Death. Which as I’ve said before, is the source of Magic. As for how that will work with your System? I don’t know.”

‘Maybe more EXP?’ Alaster guessed.

“Alright, so how do we bind your soul to mine.”

“Pretty easy actually. All you have to do is kill me.”

“Say again?”

“Kill me. I have already prepared a spell that will automatically bind my then freed soul to yours. And so long as you don’t fight it; everything will happen just as I’ve said.”

“What happens if I do fight it?”

“Then my soul will instinctively shred yours into confetti and we will both die.”

“So don’t do that.”

“Don’t do that.”

“But you fought Gods before, how am I supposed to kill you?”

“As I’ve said before, I am severely weakened in this dimension after being starved of Mana for so long. So long as I don’t fight back, you can do it. Though it will be hard, even if I just stand here. I guess test out your most powerful attacks now?”

“Wait a minute. You are free of the Throne right?”

Belgroth sighed, “Yes. What is it?”

“Can’t you wipe out the Dungeon for me? Then you bind yourself to me. And we can leave the Dungeon in just moments and not days, even weeks?”

“No. If I could, I would have just killed you and done all that already. Without the strength I would normally have if I wasn’t Mana Starved, I cannot exist this dimension. Since I am not of this dimension, I will not age. So I will spend eternity trapped here unless someone else powerful enough comes here and rescues me. Without the assistance of the System, I am trapped.”

“But then couldn’t you still kill the Monsters and mortally injure the Boss, allowing me to strike the final blow and triggering the System to create the portal?”

“At least you aren’t completely idiotic. But still no, the portal won’t allow me through. And the power to open that portal is generated by the System Users, like you, killing the Boss Monster, any attack I deal to the boss will take away from that energy.”

“So you can still kill all the Devils and just leave the Boss to me?”

“Yes. But even with my Bloodline, you are too weak to defeat the boss, you have to level up and grow stronger. So, you are going to kill every living thing in this dimension, including me, and then you will kill the Boss and I will finally be free of this damned prison.”

Alaster took a deep breath, “Ok, let’s do it. Where is your heart?”

Belgroth pointed to the center of his chest.

‘Same spot as a human I guess.’

Alaster cast [Necrotic Bolt] at his heart, four Bolts slammed into Belgroth’s chest, not leaving a single mark. Even when Alaster used all three of his Minds casting [Necrotic Bolt], it barely dug in.

Even Belgroth rolled his eyes.

Alaster tried his other two Bolt spells, nothing. He tried his Undead, nothing. He tried his own weapons, nothing. Alaster tried every offensive spell, but only [Death Touch] and [Necrotic Bolt] had an effect. Even [Dead Bomb] only caused Belgroth to itch for a moment.

Sighing to himself for still being so weak, Alaster and Belgroth simply sat down at the table with Alaster’s hand over the Demon’s heart, excruciatingly melting through. Excruciating not for Belgroth, but for Alaster’s patience.

Alaster’s second mind used [Death Touch] while Alaster himself meditated, allowing him to keep [Death Touch] active for nine constant minutes, before he had to pause to regenerate more Mana, even with the Bloodline. During that time, even with Belgroth actively attempting so halt his Healing, most of Alaster’s work was still healed before he continued.

However slow, it was still progress. Though it still took several hours. During which time, Alaster asked Belgroth a multitude of questions, ranging from history, to types of Magic, to even just what the Argalon People were like. Eventually, Alaster did manage to reach the Demon’s heart.

“Ready to die?” Alaster asked.

“Yeah yeah, get on with it.”

Alaster pushed forward, slowly melting the heart. This time, Belgroth wasn’t able to hide the pain. But neither stopped.

An hour later, it was finally done. The Demon who had lived for thousands of years, seen Humanity’s arrival on the planet, and killed Gods, had been killed. By a seventeen-year-old boy.